Potty-training, peekaboo –
it’s all covered in this program for parents
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When asked whether he ever imagined that he would be down on the floor, first thing on a Monday morning, playing peekaboo, Ed Gill grins and shakes his head. Yet, there he is, on the rug at Operation Breakthrough, peeping out from behind a towel at his 6-month-old son, Cortavious.
The game is part of a Parents as Teachers session. Once a month, Cortavious and his parents meet with Sharon Turner, one of two teachers who care for Cortavious at Operation Breakthrough. They talk about how the baby is eating and sleeping, the milestones he has achieved since his last visit, what he will be learning next and how his parents can help.
For a whole hour, Cortavious is the center of these adults’ attention, and his parents have the rare opportunity to visit one-on-one with the teacher they entrust him to every weekday.
“I get to learn about what they do when I’m not here,” says Cortavious’ mother, LaShonda Brandon.
“I like that.”
Operation Breakthrough’s Parents as Teachers program is open to all enrolled children under age 3 – more than 125 infants and toddlers – and their parents. The core of this national program is the belief that parents are their children’s first and most influential teachers and that providing parents support and information positively affects children’s development.
Traditionally, Parents as Teachers features home visits from a parent educator, but that approach didn’t work for many of Operation Breakthrough’s families. Parents living in substandard housing often were uncomfortable inviting strangers into their living space. Parents without phones had trouble making and keeping appointments.
Operation Breakthrough’s approach – holding the meetings at the Center and training the children’s teachers to be their families’ parent educators – is unique. And expensive. It costs $1,500 to send each infant/toddler teacher through training to become Parents as Teachers educator, including paying a substitute teacher while she is away. A grant from the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation makes the training possible.
In every session, teachers give parents tips for enhancing children’s language, motor, cognitive and social skills.
“It’s all research-based,” says Donis Beale, infant/toddler education coordinator. Parents are amazed to hear, for example, that the average age for boys to be potty-trained is 37 months.
“Babies get to be about 18 months old, and parents start saying, ‘I want him out of diapers,’ but their bodies just aren’t ready.”
Parents as Teachers can eliminate frustration for parents, Donis says, by helping them set realistic expectations. It can also help them enjoy their children.
Every session includes time for reading books and playing games - hence Ed, hiding behind a dishtowel, to the delight of his curious baby.
“Cortavious is showing a lot of interest,” says Sharon, encouragingly. “Repetition is good for him. You can play this game with him at home.”
Ed just smiles, and pulls the towel over his face, one more time. |
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